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Feb 26, 2013
02/13
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he spoke with reporters at the pentagon for about 35 minutes. [inaudible conversations] >> qaeda man. before getting to your questions, let me address one of the narratives in recent days regarding sequester set to begin friday unless congress acts. there seems to be a belief in some quarters that when it comes to negative impact the sequester will have on our national defense and military readiness, the department of defense is crying wolf. nothing could be further from the truth. he hurt from dod leaders in the past weeks is not hype. it is the blunt truth. it isn't exaggeration. as the clear eyed assessment of what would have been to the department if we were forced to put this mindless mechanism fully into place. under the guidance of secretary cannot come in the department leaders have been candid and forthright in describing how the military would operate in a post-sequester world. still, i know they remain confusions over how sequester would function and whether there's any steps that might mitigate the harm. let me try to address the con
he spoke with reporters at the pentagon for about 35 minutes. [inaudible conversations] >> qaeda man. before getting to your questions, let me address one of the narratives in recent days regarding sequester set to begin friday unless congress acts. there seems to be a belief in some quarters that when it comes to negative impact the sequester will have on our national defense and military readiness, the department of defense is crying wolf. nothing could be further from the truth. he...
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Feb 27, 2013
02/13
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they have 103 different stem -- science, technologies, engineering and math -- programs within the pentagon alone. consolidating those would save $1.7 billion over the next ten years. these are programs that are not necessarily initiated by congress, by the way. so they do have the flexibility to make those changes. department of defense tuition assistance program totally duplicates our veterans tuition assistance program. so you can do in service have this access to tuition while in service and then have the identical tuition access afterwards and you can claim them both. there's nothing wrong with wanting togy an educational benefit to our troops, but we don't need to do it twice. that's a significant savings of $4.5 billion. alternative energy. we have a department of energy. their whole goal is to work on alternative energy and renewable energy and efficiency within energy. the department of defense is spending $700 million a year on research in alternative energy that totally duplicates everything we're doing everywhere else. so there's $00700 million that we should not be spending at
they have 103 different stem -- science, technologies, engineering and math -- programs within the pentagon alone. consolidating those would save $1.7 billion over the next ten years. these are programs that are not necessarily initiated by congress, by the way. so they do have the flexibility to make those changes. department of defense tuition assistance program totally duplicates our veterans tuition assistance program. so you can do in service have this access to tuition while in service...
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Feb 15, 2013
02/13
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as i stated at the beginning, this will be my last press conference here in the pentagon briefing room so let me close by stating the following. first of all, i'm very proud of the achievements we have been able to accomplish in the time i've been secretary defense. first and foremost we kept the country safe. second, we have been in dedicating ourselves to bringing the war to a conclusion. the war and iraq and afghanistan to the conclusion as well. we've made significant gains in weakening terrorism and i can say that i'm proud of my contribution as the director of the cia and the secretary of defense i will carry the memory of having worked at the bin laden operation at the cia with me for a long time to come. it was a very special operations and i think we did a great deal to try to keep this country safe. the other efforts to undermine the leadership al qaeda both the military and intelligence operations working together probably the finest example i've seen in my time the military and intelligence operations coming together to go after the enemy that attacked this country i think
as i stated at the beginning, this will be my last press conference here in the pentagon briefing room so let me close by stating the following. first of all, i'm very proud of the achievements we have been able to accomplish in the time i've been secretary defense. first and foremost we kept the country safe. second, we have been in dedicating ourselves to bringing the war to a conclusion. the war and iraq and afghanistan to the conclusion as well. we've made significant gains in weakening...
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Feb 26, 2013
02/13
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he also understands the budget challenges facing the pentagon. during his testimony he said that sequestration would send a terrible signal to our military and civilian workforce. on this and many other issues senator hagel continues to demonstrate a clear-eyed commitment to our core national security interests and a nuanced personal understanding of the gravity of the use of force. this isn't just my judgment. 13 former secretaries of state and defense and former national security advisors wrote to the senate recently urging senator hagel's swift confirmation. the signatories included senior leaders from both parties across several decades of presidential administrations like robert gates, colin powell, brent scowcroft and which willian cohen. these men, all of whom have been part of the responsibility of keeping america safe, believing that chuck hagel will do exactly that. there are system here who may question that, and that is their right. but men who have had that responsibility trust chuck hagel, as do i. the question lee quote briefly. "h
he also understands the budget challenges facing the pentagon. during his testimony he said that sequestration would send a terrible signal to our military and civilian workforce. on this and many other issues senator hagel continues to demonstrate a clear-eyed commitment to our core national security interests and a nuanced personal understanding of the gravity of the use of force. this isn't just my judgment. 13 former secretaries of state and defense and former national security advisors...
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Feb 27, 2013
02/13
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-- bureaucrats at the pentagon. 86% resides outside of washington, d.c. these are civilians working for our department of defense that literally fix the equipment in our depots and arsenals, they are teachers in our schools, training the children of military families, counselors, police officers, medical professionals, blue collar wrench turners and maintainers at our military bases. the impact of sequestration is already being felt not just here in this country but overseas. i just returned last week from a whirlwind tour, still recovering, over to africa to visit uganda, djibouti and into the gulf into bahrain. i saw firsthand the men and women in uniform who are defending our interest, pursuing our missions and the impact of sequestration. in uganda, our u.s. military is currently training ugandan military forces to take down a notorious leader of the lord's resistance army, joseph kony. they are making significant progress. their mission so important to increasing stability in a difficult region of the world and it could be sacrificed to a sequester.
-- bureaucrats at the pentagon. 86% resides outside of washington, d.c. these are civilians working for our department of defense that literally fix the equipment in our depots and arsenals, they are teachers in our schools, training the children of military families, counselors, police officers, medical professionals, blue collar wrench turners and maintainers at our military bases. the impact of sequestration is already being felt not just here in this country but overseas. i just returned...
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Feb 6, 2013
02/13
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and also someone who is head of public affairs at the pentagon, george little, who is also someone who both graduated and later taught here at georgetown. talented, young individuals who have been at my side every day for the last four years at both the cia and the pentagon. and i'm deeply grateful for fore work on behalf of me and on behalf of the nation. and i'm deeply grateful to georgetown for training such extraordinary public servants. and speaking of extraordinary public servants, i think many in this audience know that there's a georgetown professor that the president has nominated to serve as the next secretary of defense, chuck hagel. i am confident and i've expressed that confidence publicly that the men and women of the department of defense will have the kind of advocate that they need as the nation emerges for more than a decade of war. lastly, i'm honored to be here, as i said, as a catholic and as a proud graduate of another just what institution, santa clara university. my time in the universities undergraduate and law school, in many ways shaped the rest of my life, a
and also someone who is head of public affairs at the pentagon, george little, who is also someone who both graduated and later taught here at georgetown. talented, young individuals who have been at my side every day for the last four years at both the cia and the pentagon. and i'm deeply grateful for fore work on behalf of me and on behalf of the nation. and i'm deeply grateful to georgetown for training such extraordinary public servants. and speaking of extraordinary public servants, i...
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Feb 19, 2013
02/13
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his nomination was briefly on hold during a pentagon investigation into e-mails that he had exchanged with a civilian woman who was linked to the scandal that forced the director david petraeus to resign. he has since been cleared of wrongdoing. "the washington post" reporting the general is leading service because his wife is seriously ill. a discussion on the sequester hosted by politico this morning was disrupted by protesters. they spoke out against the across-the-board cuts that go into effect on march 1st entered into an explanation by former white house chief of staff erskin bowles ms. luft -- of other cuts could be made. here is a look. >> talking backstage over talking abut the sequester that most people in the room believe will happen on march 1st as automatic cuts. mr. bowles when you have referred to them as dumb, stupid. you used that word three times to estimate a are dumb and they are stupid, stupid, stupid. look, there is no business in the country that makes the cuts across the board. you go in there and you try to search for the things that have the least at first ef
his nomination was briefly on hold during a pentagon investigation into e-mails that he had exchanged with a civilian woman who was linked to the scandal that forced the director david petraeus to resign. he has since been cleared of wrongdoing. "the washington post" reporting the general is leading service because his wife is seriously ill. a discussion on the sequester hosted by politico this morning was disrupted by protesters. they spoke out against the across-the-board cuts that...
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Feb 1, 2013
02/13
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even by the pentagon standards. you're talking about 70 ,000 american forces to secure 353 metric tons of chemical. probably decentralized in fifty or sixty locations. what exactly do you mean? look, i don't even go -- i'll give you a concession. six months try -- fine. fine with me. not that it matters. that a number of opposition groups and start a military assistance effort. go ahead. that's why. >> what are you talking about? >> i think what they're talking about, air aaron. >> go ahead and see. >> we'll talk about -- [inaudible conversations] aaron, if you were commanding us in the beginning of world war ii you would have said let's get. >> come on, come on. bob. bob. >> we're going to take one more question. [inaudible conversations] right here. >> even for you, bob. even for you, bob. [inaudible conversations] >> guys, back in your corners. right here. [laughter] >> thank you, gent man. my name is lee tucker and i work with the international policy group. my question is mostly directed to team yes, which is h
even by the pentagon standards. you're talking about 70 ,000 american forces to secure 353 metric tons of chemical. probably decentralized in fifty or sixty locations. what exactly do you mean? look, i don't even go -- i'll give you a concession. six months try -- fine. fine with me. not that it matters. that a number of opposition groups and start a military assistance effort. go ahead. that's why. >> what are you talking about? >> i think what they're talking about, air aaron....
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Feb 13, 2013
02/13
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i think the pentagon needs to be paired down. we need the pentagon to look at their own priorities." we are pressed for time so i would, if i could, have the joint chiefs go down the line, quickly, if you can answer with yes or no, whether you agree with the general characterization that the senator made. that'd be great. [laughter] >> let me try it. it's a good question. it's a fair question. i don't -- i can't speak for senator hagel, but my interpretation of that is that it is along the lines of something that secretary gates used to say which was that we had accumulated over the decade post-9/11 when our budget was just kept going up over year, and i said this in lo gist ticks. when the budget goes up year in and year out, it's fair to say that when you had a management problem, all of our managers, they -- it was easy to reach for more money to solve your managing problem, whether it's a technical program or problem or something like that. it was noticeable as secretary in logistics that in some places that having had accumu
i think the pentagon needs to be paired down. we need the pentagon to look at their own priorities." we are pressed for time so i would, if i could, have the joint chiefs go down the line, quickly, if you can answer with yes or no, whether you agree with the general characterization that the senator made. that'd be great. [laughter] >> let me try it. it's a good question. it's a fair question. i don't -- i can't speak for senator hagel, but my interpretation of that is that it is...
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Feb 14, 2013
02/13
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there are still good people at the pentagon and i'm sure they will do a good job, but we should have that secretary of defense, one of the most critical appointments in the president's cabinet filled. this notion that we have to make a political stand here and stop chuck hagel today to make some political point really troubles me. some of the requests for information about chuck hagel go beyond any of the standards of disclosure we have ever seen before. this isn't fair. it isn't fair to chuck hagel, it isn't fair to the president, it certainly isn't fair to the men and women in uniform all across the united states and around the world who are risking their lives for this country. those who come to the floor and say in ten days, he'll be fine. for goodness sakes, let' swallow your pride. let's fill phil this spot. let's not have this sad, historic filibuster on this appointment to the president's cabinet. i really hope my colleagues will reflect on what chuck hagel has meant in his live, his service to the country, his service to the state of nebraska and his service to this nation a
there are still good people at the pentagon and i'm sure they will do a good job, but we should have that secretary of defense, one of the most critical appointments in the president's cabinet filled. this notion that we have to make a political stand here and stop chuck hagel today to make some political point really troubles me. some of the requests for information about chuck hagel go beyond any of the standards of disclosure we have ever seen before. this isn't fair. it isn't fair to chuck...
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Feb 26, 2013
02/13
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it is time to end the uncertainty relative to the leadership at the pentagon. the time has come to now confirm chuck hagel as our next secretary of defense, and i hope that the senate will, on a bipartisan basis, soon do exactly that. and i yield the floor, and i note the absence of a quorum. stir officer the clerk will call the roll. roll the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: mr. levin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. levin: i ask the yeas and nays if they haven't already been ordered. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? it seems to be there is a sufficient second. the yeas and nays will be called. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote:
it is time to end the uncertainty relative to the leadership at the pentagon. the time has come to now confirm chuck hagel as our next secretary of defense, and i hope that the senate will, on a bipartisan basis, soon do exactly that. and i yield the floor, and i note the absence of a quorum. stir officer the clerk will call the roll. roll the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: mr. levin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that further proceedings...
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Feb 4, 2013
02/13
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field commanders have to be fully engaged and interested in driving change outside the pentagon if senator hagel is confirmed his setting the tone from the top will be vitally important. is all of this enormously challenging? it absolutely is. within an annual budget, equal to the 17th largest economy in the world, as the institute for defense analysis recently noted, the department's business of achieving its unique missions worldwide on an ongoing contingency basis equates more to an economy than a commercial business. be that as it may, with an annual federal budget deficit of $1.3 trillion and defense reductions of at least $487 billion and possibly with sequestration another $500 billion over the next ten years, the department needs to have reliable financial management data to help it distinguish between defense budget cuts that are prudent and necessary and those that may impinge on military readiness and, therefore, endanger our national security. only a department that can be audited can give us the assurance that the department is moving in the right direction in terms of identif
field commanders have to be fully engaged and interested in driving change outside the pentagon if senator hagel is confirmed his setting the tone from the top will be vitally important. is all of this enormously challenging? it absolutely is. within an annual budget, equal to the 17th largest economy in the world, as the institute for defense analysis recently noted, the department's business of achieving its unique missions worldwide on an ongoing contingency basis equates more to an economy...
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Feb 15, 2013
02/13
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it did suggest that the pentagon is pushing a plan that we keep on about 8000 troops in afghanistan. i know that general austin, you weren't a part of the planning process thus far, but can you supported plan that would scheduled withdrawal of troops in advance? you know, we are looking at withdrawal of troops in afghanistan, and according to this article from about 8000 down to 1000 within a very short period of time. i have questions if we can even maintain our mission, let alone complete the mission. how can you make decisions on troop withdrawal when, as you stated previously, so much depends upon conditions on the ground, what the government is doing, what their abilities are up to that point. how would you approach a proposal like that? >> i certainly would first really work hard to make sure i fully understood what the leadership wanted to get done moving into the future. and i certainly, my advice as a commander on the ground or commander of central command, i would provide my advice based upon where i think the security forces are, and conditions in theater, and what i think
it did suggest that the pentagon is pushing a plan that we keep on about 8000 troops in afghanistan. i know that general austin, you weren't a part of the planning process thus far, but can you supported plan that would scheduled withdrawal of troops in advance? you know, we are looking at withdrawal of troops in afghanistan, and according to this article from about 8000 down to 1000 within a very short period of time. i have questions if we can even maintain our mission, let alone complete the...
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Feb 20, 2013
02/13
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do you accept the criticisms of the pentagon should have been warning about these furloughs souter so that they give the time or the urgency to the congress to do something about it? >> well, first, we started some slowdown in spending in general were a tenth and the number of the measures i mentioned went into effect shortly after that hiring freeze was cut back on the facilities maintenance. and we took a significant effort to try to slow down our spending to avoid more draconian actions later. i know that people feel we should have said more earlier. i will say 16 months ago the secretary send a letter to the united states congress saying defective sequestration would be devastating. the was october of 2011. after that we did a series of assessments and we testified in august and i personally testified in september. we listed every major item we are talking about. we said we would have to do furloughs. we said that the adviser would go down and unit costs would go up to it i mean, all the same things. what we didn't do is the tel budget planning. and i don't regret that because if
do you accept the criticisms of the pentagon should have been warning about these furloughs souter so that they give the time or the urgency to the congress to do something about it? >> well, first, we started some slowdown in spending in general were a tenth and the number of the measures i mentioned went into effect shortly after that hiring freeze was cut back on the facilities maintenance. and we took a significant effort to try to slow down our spending to avoid more draconian...
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Feb 22, 2013
02/13
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indicated the president is,h noo ggling to norfolk virginia, which is of course an area heavh with pentagon contracts and military construction and the navy shipyard. what are you looking for? >> guest: the most interesting thing will be the votes in the e senate.d senate. i think it somehow democrats arf able to get the compromise bill, through that would offset the equation and would be very muchd thatpected. but that's maybe our one chance for the sequestered at this point. more likely it will be a vote where democrats put a plan forward and can garner enough support on the republican plan forward and also doesn't pass for the democratically controlled senate. and then you will see a lot ofph finger-pointing for roadsides with republicans saying the democrats couldn't pass the plad lannedsed one of the h nouse oft representatives and the democrats saying republicans are our cpromis blocked our compromise plan in the senate. so it's going to be a lot of there'-pointing and it will be very interesting to see if one oide or the other is able to garner a political the advantage. >> host: jus
indicated the president is,h noo ggling to norfolk virginia, which is of course an area heavh with pentagon contracts and military construction and the navy shipyard. what are you looking for? >> guest: the most interesting thing will be the votes in the e senate.d senate. i think it somehow democrats arf able to get the compromise bill, through that would offset the equation and would be very muchd thatpected. but that's maybe our one chance for the sequestered at this point. more likely...
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Feb 19, 2013
02/13
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that nomination was on hold during a pentagon investigation into e-mails that general our exchange with a civilian woman who was linked to the scandal that forced general david petraeus to resign. general allen has since been cleared of wrongdoing. the "washington post" reporting that general allen is leaving the service because his wife is seriously ill. and a reminder that life deny former cia director michael hayden will discuss how digital technology is transform the national security and intelligence gathering as the u.s. notes efforts to stop cyber attacks and threats from terrorists and rogue nations. that will be live from george washington university here in washington, d.c. >> congress is out this week for the presidents' day holiday so we are featuring some booktv weekend programming. in prime time here on c-span2. >> the government accountability office has released its 2013 report on federal programs and operations identified as high risk for waste, fraud, abuse or mismanagement. it states climate change poses a serious financial threat. , co-general gene dodaro discussed t
that nomination was on hold during a pentagon investigation into e-mails that general our exchange with a civilian woman who was linked to the scandal that forced general david petraeus to resign. general allen has since been cleared of wrongdoing. the "washington post" reporting that general allen is leaving the service because his wife is seriously ill. and a reminder that life deny former cia director michael hayden will discuss how digital technology is transform the national...
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Feb 6, 2013
02/13
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in "the washington post" that we needed to reduce dod as a reason to improve efficiency within the pentagon. that applies to all the other agencies as well. secondly, most of the concern about sequestration is about readiness. which is absolutely true. if you talk about the lawyers that work as defense contractors, they believe that they will have a field day. we have even had testimony last year that the legal household emanating from sequestration making up a lot of the savings. but beyond that, as senator ayotte and senator lindsey reference, there are a lot of dangerous places in the world. but we do is try to develop capabilities to deal with the unknowable contingencies of what could happen at a place like syria or iran or north korea. with less money, you can perform with fewer contingencies. this hurts us in the real world today. my final point is there are lots of options to deal with this. as was mentioned, the house passed bills twice last year to substitute sequestration savings for other more or other more targeted savings, so the same amount of money, and these domestic progra
in "the washington post" that we needed to reduce dod as a reason to improve efficiency within the pentagon. that applies to all the other agencies as well. secondly, most of the concern about sequestration is about readiness. which is absolutely true. if you talk about the lawyers that work as defense contractors, they believe that they will have a field day. we have even had testimony last year that the legal household emanating from sequestration making up a lot of the savings. but...
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Feb 25, 2013
02/13
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thousands of children will go without vaccines -- without lifesaving vaccines and 90,000 pentagon employees will be furloughed. mr. president, it's easy to talk about furloughs unless you're one of those people being furl 0ed. we don't know how many days a week or month it will be, but it will be days. in nevada, 120 teachers would lose their jobs, local law enforcement agencies will lose essential funding to prosecute crime and thousands of defense department employees will be furloughed losing wages to support their families and our state's economy. residents of the republican leader's home state would also stuffer sufer. kentucky would lose funding that helps police catch and punish domestic abusers, and keeps at-risk children in shatt programs. more than 11,000 kentuckians will be furloughed. the nationwide sequester cuts would cost more than 750,000 jobs. more than 70,000 little boys and girls will be kicked out of the head start program. meat inspectors, air traffic controllers, f.b.i. officers and border patrol agents will be furloughed. small businesses which create two-thirds of al
thousands of children will go without vaccines -- without lifesaving vaccines and 90,000 pentagon employees will be furloughed. mr. president, it's easy to talk about furloughs unless you're one of those people being furl 0ed. we don't know how many days a week or month it will be, but it will be days. in nevada, 120 teachers would lose their jobs, local law enforcement agencies will lose essential funding to prosecute crime and thousands of defense department employees will be furloughed...